Following the successful foiling of the Dowelloft Trading Company’s local plot on Moanaora Island, the Feinting GOATs found themselves victorious but stranded. With their trust in the Pantheon shattered by the Thorne-bot’s revelations, the party gathered to determine their next move. Their key challenge was clear: to pursue their enemies in the Yakuza, they needed a form of transport to match their foe's teleportation network, and the only spelljammer they knew of was the downed Thri-kreen ship in Mupalan, thousands of miles away.
The Oracle Nathia, now a trusted ally, approached the party, offering cryptic guidance she perceived from the threads of destiny. She provided four prophecies to guide their path: one for the journey, one for the vessel, one for the method, and one for the coming conflict.
With Nathia’s riddles as their guide, the party needed to find a way to cross 300 miles of ocean to Nyambe without alerting the Dowelloft Trading Company ships still patrolling the region. Using his new status as a Kaitiaki on the Maukoru Council, Korloth secured a daring solution. The party was granted use of an experimental, unfinished mechanical Nautilus submarine built by the Menehune shipwrights. They quickly embarked on a 3-day underwater journey, stopping along the way for fish and fresh air.
They arrived safely in the Murmuring Jungle of Nyambe and located the "garden whose roots reach beyond the soil"—a magical orchard guarded by the eccentric Agogwe hermit, Fik'iri Myrtle. The chaotic warden presented them with a riddle that held the key to activating the orchard's teleportation magic. After spending around 80 gold pieces at a strange, slot-machine-like contraption to collect 15 unique native fruits, the party deciphered the riddle's rules. Following the seasonal harvest order of the fruits, they navigated the orchard's winding paths to bury each fruit between its matching twin trees, finally focusing on their destination to open the portal.
The portal deposited them in the familiar fruit orchards near Peach Grove in Mupalan. While there, Bao Bao took the opportunity to speak with her mentor, Elder Ming-Hua, informing her of the Dowelloft Trading Company's activities on the islands. The party then traveled to the nearby Chtik-tek Thri-kreen camp, the same tribe they had encountered in Session 10. There, they were welcomed as kin. Cut-Cut was honored in a naming ceremony, receiving the formal adult name Zik'Chak. In return for her news and the revelations about the true Thri-kreen history, the tribe eagerly helped the party begin repairs on their salvaged leaf ship, using the original blueprints.
With the ship being in the process of repair, the GOATs enacted their plan to acquire a new helm. They lured the Neogi captain, Vess'rek, to a jungle clearing a few miles away. The ambush was fraught with chaos. As the battle began, Cut-Cut touched a Neogi-controlled Umber Hulk with her red crystal, and the influx of true Kreen racial memory sparked a mutiny among the hulks, who turned on their Neogi masters. The only one immune was a huge-sized Umber Hulk fitted with a strange, cage-like helmet that seemed to interfere with the crystal's effect. During the fight, the Neogi captain teleported into the treetops to launch a psionic assault, while Echo cleverly used magic jar to possess the giant, resistant Umber Hulk, running it out of the combat zone to neutralize it as a threat.
After the Neogi were defeated and their psionically-held ship began to disintegrate, the freed Umber Hulks beckoned the party toward a hidden, locked door on the Neogi vessel. The door was featureless save for a central, window-like circle filled with a swirling, noise-like pattern of shifting colors. When the party donned the helmet recovered from the dead Neogi captain, its lens filtered the chaos; the visual static resolved into the outline of a small spider crawling randomly within the circular window. With some deliberation, the party figured out that touching the spider was the key to open the door. With a soft chime, the door hissed open. Inside, they found the lifejammer helm, which was being powered by a sick and chained Umber Hulk. Along with the helm, they recovered a number of "gross and evil looking" psionic items. They freed the captive creature and, with their new helm secured, returned to the leaf ship to complete its restoration.
With the immediate threat handled, the party returned their attention to the Umber Hulks. They tracked down the huge specimen that Echo had possessed and run off into the jungle, carefully removing the psionic-dampening cage from its head. Freed from its forced servitude, the massive creature gave the party a nod of understanding before lumbering off into the wilderness to find its own path. Of the remaining Umber Hulks who had survived the mutiny, two chose to pledge their service to the crew of the new spelljammer, while the rest, now aware of their ancient kinship with the Thri-kreen, were welcomed into the nearby Chtik-tek village.
Now in command of a fully functional spelljammer, the party flew to a known Yakuza hideout near Peach Grove that was mentioned in the previously recovered ledgers. There, they found the intelligence that Nathia's final prophecy had warned of: a detailed plan for "Operation Silent Answer," the assassination of a sage known as the "Man with Answers" at a Swamp Temple near Ausura. The mission was assigned to a specialist codenamed "The Puppetmaster."
After a brief stop at Cut-Cut's monastery, the party raced to the Swamp Temple. They found the ancient Squole psion, Angello, who was already aware that an assassin was on the way. The session ended as the party stood with the Man of Answers, contemplating the vital questions they would ask him while bracing for the imminent arrival of the Puppetmaster.
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Note: The following writings are from the character's perspective and are often private to the character. They are not considered "in-game" knowledge to the other characters, and any in-character reference to this information would be considered meta-gaming.
Dear Master,
As I write this letter, the Feinting GOATs are already on our way to Tengai-no-mori, but time is short and there is much to discuss. If there is anything we do not get to in person, it should be covered here. When I last wrote, we were still considering where and how to proceed from the Maukoru Archipelago, but Nathia, the oracle, laid out a clear path for us with a series of prophecies. We found these to be noticeably less cryptic than usual; she even specified that the order in which the prophecies were presented was intentional and important.
In part, the prophecies included a series of instructions for repairing the downed Thri-kreen leaf cruiser near Sakhmehet Village. To reach it, we first traveled into Nyambe where we sought the aid of a wizard for expedited travel to Táofēng Settlement. After enjoying some local produce and checking in with Bao Bao’s elder, Ming-Hua, I finally got my wish to return to the Ha’Chakik tribe. The reception this time was markedly different, thanks to the recovered racial memories of the Thri-kreen having already reached the Ha’Chakik tribe all the way from Athas. I admit I am still not entirely used to the deep and constant connection of the tokchak, but I now better understand its advantages. Since knowledge of my deeds preceded me, the coming-of-age ritual was a mere formality, and I have been accepted as a full adult and member of the tribe. I also feel as though I am more truly Thri-kreen than I have ever been, although I am also still very much Mupalanese and, of course, a Feinting GOAT. I had given some thought to choosing my own adult name, but when the moment came, I worried about choosing something too presumptuous. It is not wrong that I should feel pride in my own accomplishments, and destiny appears to demand leadership from me, but I would be loath to elevate myself above any of my people with a name or title. I wish to demonstrate humility befitting a monk of Tengai-no-mori, so instead of choosing for myself, I allowed the elder, Tra-Dasik to give me a name. Among other Thri-kreen, at least, I am now known as Zik’Chak. Interestingly, when considering my options, I was also drawn to the root “zik.” It means “radical change,” which certainly seems to be the theme of this journey of discovery. I will also continue to go by Cut-Cut. I have lived with that name this long, after all, and it is easier for non-insectoids to pronounce.
With the formalities out of the way, the tribe graciously allowed us to claim the leaf cruiser and offered their assistance to repair it. The main challenge, however, would be replacing the helm, which was previously salvaged for the Citadel’s hammer ship. We certainly did not have the skills, materials, or time required to fabricate a new helm ourselves, and, lacking access to a currently functioning spelljammer, it would be quite difficult, if not impossible, to travel anywhere that parts could be procured, so the only other option was to make a helm come to us. For that, the oracle’s prophecy offered a solution: a ruse to summon the neogi Vess’rek and his Death Spider by impersonating his old ally, Kha’Tikra. We chose a meeting place a safe distance from the Ha’Chakik encampment and dispatched Adrian's messenger bat. While Korloth and I waited in the open, the rest of the GOATs took up positions around the clearing, ready to flank. Although I know the Ha’Chakik warriors are capable and would have been more than willing to assist, I decided not to involve them in the plot or the combat. Having just gained this family, I was reluctant to risk any of them, and I was confident that the GOATs could handle the task. Our summons was successful, but my impersonation was less so; Vess’rek was distrustful by nature, and acting is not one of my talents. Truthfully, though, we had no intention of avoiding combat with the neogi. We may have lost the advantage of surprise, but the end result was the same. Although the neogi fought mercilessly, the Feinting GOATs withstood all of their savage psionic and magical attacks. Vess’rek even targeted me with a disintegration spell, but Bao Bao’s psionic healing ensured I was able to outlast him.
Perhaps we would have fared worse had the neogi not made a fatal mistake – sending Kh’thak (umber hulks) against us. One touch of my riik’dasl awakened them, restoring their racial memories and immediately turning them against their former masters. The awakening spread to the Kh’thak still aboard the Death Spider, who finished off the remaining neogi crew while we dealt with the ones on the ground. One especially large Kh’thak was a bit more problematic, and I owe Elyndra’s companion, Echo, gratitude for the opportunity to save that one. He had been fitted with an insidious, cage-like psionic device that stole his will and countered the effect of the riik’dasl, and initial attempts to remove the cage did more harm than good. The unfortunate Kh’thak likely would not have survived, but Echo was able to transfer his own consciousness into the Kh’thak’s body, circumventing the device’s control and steering him away from combat. After the battle, though it was not an easy process, we were able to successfully remove the device, and Ha’Chakik healers tended to the Kh’thak’s injuries. Two of the Kh’thak have decided to accompany the GOATs as crew members aboard the leaf cruiser, and I am grateful for their assistance and companionship. They will need names, since none were ever given to them, and so will our ship.
With the helm appropriated from the Death Spider and the leaf cruiser restored, we must now look into the last of Nathia’s prophecies: “Beware the weaver of silent strings, who commands the flowers of the night. His master seeks to unwrite the stars, to pluck a thread from fate's own sight. Their shadow falls on one who knows, a voice that holds all truth in store. If this last Answer's light should close, a door will shut forevermore.” Akemi was able to interpret this one, thanks to her codebreaking skills and intercepted Yakuza documents. We must find this “one who knows” before Yakuza assassins, which is why our stop at Tengai-no-mori must be brief. I can take some precious time to speak with you while the other GOATs get some much-needed rest, and then we must hurry on our way. Hopefully, by the time you read these words, we will have already succeeded. I will write to you with an update when I can. It will be good to see you, Master, though I wish circumstances were better. Soon, perhaps.
Yours,
Cut-Cut
P.S. Or Zik’Chak. My new name will take some getting used to, but you may use whichever you prefer, or both interchangeably as you like.